Zeus
| width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | Family |- | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | Introduction to Zeus In Greek Mythology, Zeus (Ancient Greek:Ζεύς) was the greek deity of honor, hospitality, justice, lightning, thunder, law, order, and the skies. he was the ruler of Olympus, and ruled over his siblings and children as a father ruled over his family. Zeus' roman counterpart was Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart was Tinia. His Hindu equivalent is Indra. Zeus was the sixth child of Kronos and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he is married to Hera, although, at the oracle of Dodona, his consort is Dione: according to the Iliad, he is the father of Aphrodite by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, the god of youth and Hephaestus. | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | Even though Zeus was technically not father of all, he is still given the title of " Father of Gods and men"; this may be because, as Walter Burkert points out in his book, Greek Religion, "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence." In Hesiod's Theogony Zeus assigns the various gods their various roles. In the Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. He also possesses a shield called Aegis, which can also be called as his symbol. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty. |- | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | Zeus in mythology 'His Birth' Kronos sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but in fear of Gaia's curse that his own child would bring about his doom, swallowed them as soon as they were born. When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Kronos would get his retribution for his acts against his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Kronos a rock wrapped in white cloth, which he promptly swallowed. | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | 'Infancy' Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. According to varying versions of the story: #He was then raised by Gaia. #He was raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Kouretes— soldiers, or smaller gods— danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry. #He was raised by a nymph named Adamanthea. Since Kronos ruled over the Earth, the heavens and the sea, she hid him by dangling him on a rope from a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father. #He was raised by a nymph named Cynosura. In gratitude, Zeus placed her among the stars. #He was raised by Melissa, who nursed him with goat's milk and honey. #He was raised by a shepherd family under the promise that their sheep would be saved from wolves. |- | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | 'King of the Gods' After reaching manhood, Zeus managed to secure a place as Kronos' cupbearer in his palace, with some help from Gaia. One day, Zeus made Kronos disgorge his children and the stone in reverse order of swallowing. How he did it differs in most versions. One belief is that he cut open Kronos' stomach to do it; another is that Metis gave him (Zeus) a special mixture to mix in Kronos' cup. Yet another states he fed him a mixture of mustard and wine; the revolting taste of which forced Kronos to disgorge everything he swallowed. Then Zeus released Kronos' older relatives, the Gigantes, Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes, killing their guard Kampê in the process. As a token of appreciation, the Cyclopes gave Zeus the lightning bolt, which Gaia had previously hidden. Then, the Gigantes, Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes with the Gods fought the Titans in what is known as the Titanomachy. | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | The Gods won, and banished most of the Titans to the abyss of Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. Atlas, one of the Titans who had fought against the Gods, was cursed to hold up the sky forever, to prevent Gaia and her husband Ouranos from embracing each other. After the war, Zeus shared the world with his brothers, Poseidon and Hades by drawing lots. Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters of the earth, and Hades the Underworld. The sacred earth mother, Gaia, could not be divided, and thus, was left to the three, to control to the best of their ability. This explains why poseidon was the "Earthshaker" (bringer of earthquakes) and Hades claimed the dead. Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, for they were her children. thus, Zeus had to deal with a few more of Gaia's children, among them Typhon and his wife Echidna. Zeus was defeated by Typhon in their first fight, but in their second one, he trapped him under the volcano in Mount Etna. Zeus, left Echidna and her children live though. |- | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | 'Zeus & Metis' After the wars, Zeus married the Titaness of prudence, Metis, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Metis was exceptionally wise, and had helped Zeus come up with many strategies and plans in the war to help Zeus. One day, however, after geting a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi that his child by Metis would be more powerful than him, Zeus decided to kill Metis. Using the fact that Metis could shape-shift, Zeus asked her to turn into a fly, and then swallowed her. A few months later Zeus felt a continuous headache. Even after repeated medicine, when it did not cure, Prometheus the Titan of forethought asked Hephaestus to open Zeus head with an axe. As soon as it was opened, Metis' daughter, Athena, sprung from the head. |- | width="50%" valign="top" style="border: 1px solid deepskyblue; background: skyblue; padding: 0.5em" | Roles and ephithets Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Greek Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the heroes and was featured in many of their local cults. Though the Homeric "cloud collector" was the god of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity. Aside from local epithets that simply designated the deity to doing something random at some particular place, the epithets or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his wide-ranging authority: *Zeus Olympios emphasized Zeus's kingship over both the gods in addition to his specific presence at the Panhellenic festival at Olympia. *Zeus Panhellenios ("Zeus of all the Hellenes"), to whom Aeacus' famous temple on Aegina was dedicated. *Zeus Xenios, Philoxenon or Hospites: Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. *Zeus Horkios: Zeus he was the keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia. *Zeus Agoraeus: Zeus watched over business at the agora and punished dishonest traders. *Zeus Aegiduchos or Aegiochos: Zeus was the bearer of the Aegis with which he strikes terror into the impious and his enemies. Others derive this epithet from αἴξ ("goat") and οχή and take it as an allusion to the legend of Zeus' suckling at the breast of Amalthea. Additional names and epithets for Zeus are also: *Zeus Meilichios ("easy-to-be-entreated"): Zeus subsumed an archaic chthonic daimon propitiated in Athens, Meilichios. *Zeus Tallaios ("solar Zeus"): the Zeus that was worshiped in Crete. *Zeus Labrandos: he was worshiped at Caria. His sacred site was Labranda and he was depicted holding a double-edged axe (labrys-labyrinth). He is connected with the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub. *Zeus Naos and Bouleus: forms of Zeus worshipped at Dodona, the earliest oracle. His priests, the Selloi, are sometimes thought to have given their name to the Hellenes. *Kasios: the Zeus of Mount Kasios in Syria *Ithomatas: the Zeus of Mount Ithomi in Messenia *Astrapios ("lightninger") *Brontios ("thunderer") |}